


Almost Faerie Time

by mysticanni



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Fae & Fairies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 21:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21083288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticanni/pseuds/mysticanni
Summary: There is a circle in the centre of the woods where no trees will grow.John and Freddie go to investigate it at midnight.





	Almost Faerie Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Joger Week 2019 'supernatural' prompt.
> 
> Title from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve: Lovers, to bed, ‘tis almost fairy time.”

There was a clearing in the woods where no trees grew.

‘Apparently no trees have ever grown here,’ John told Brian.

  
They had escaped the studio and the farmhouse for a walk. It was a hot day although it was cooler amongst the trees. Brian had picked up a stick and was whacking things with it.

  
John found that really irritating.

  
If Roger had been there and had picked up a stick he would at least have been hitting things rhythmically. Roger wasn’t here, though.

  
‘Local theories about the lack of trees include this being the place the aliens park their spaceships and this being the spot where faeries meet,’ John added.

  
Brian snorted. ‘I expect it has something to do with the ground. It’s probably too rocky for roots to develop or something.’

  
John felt a twinge of annoyance. He had not said he believed any of the theories. Although he was tempted to say that it seemed remarkable that one small completely circular area of the wood could have a geographical feature that prevented any trees from growing there.

  
He did not speak. Brian seemed untroubled by the silence.

  
*

  
Roger had been against recording at ‘a farm in the middle of nowhere’. John had thought at first that he was simply afraid that he would be bored in a relatively isolated place but Roger seemed ill at ease. He was jumpy and nervous and very un-Roger-ish. Roger insisted he was fine, of course.

  
John had also noticed that Roger rarely left the farmhouse or the barn where the studio was located. It was a hot sunny summer but Roger was spending a lot of time inside.

  
*

  
Over dinner John told Roger and Freddie about the strange circle in the woods. ‘There is a full moon tonight,’ he noted. ‘Let’s go there and see if anything spooky happens!’

  
Brian snorted. ‘The only thing likely to happen would be one of us,’ he glanced at Roger, ‘breaking a leg stumbling about in the dark.’

  
‘Oh, don’t be such a spoil-sport!’ Freddie chided him. ‘Or are you too scared to go, Brian?’ He patted Roger’s arm. ‘You’ll do it, won’t you, darling?’

  
Roger shook his head. ‘Where’s the fun in creeping about the woods at night?’ he muttered.

  
‘Well, if you two are going to be such cowards then John and I will go ourselves!’ Freddie declared.

  
*

  
‘I think Rog might have been right about this,’ Freddie muttered as he stumbled over a tree root in the dark.

  
John shone the torch in front of them. It was almost midnight. ‘Do you think Roger has been acting oddly?’ he asked.

  
Freddie considered this. ‘Yes,’ he concluded.

  
‘Do you have any ideas why?’ John wondered, ‘He insists he is fine if I ask.’

  
Freddie shook his head. ‘Not a clue, darling. Sorry.’ He gestured to the trees. ‘You were hoping to scare it out of him?’

  
John shrugged. ‘I think whatever is troubling him is related to this place, somehow.’

  
*

  
‘Ooh, this is spooky!’ Freddie said delightedly as they reached the clearing.

  
It was a warm dry night and no mist had been evident in any other part of the wood but now mist swirled around their ankles and curled between the trees around the edges of the clearing like a shifting (breathing) wall. John shivered, it was noticeably cooler here. No doubt Brian was correct about there being some kind of geographical anomaly.

  
A little sound, as if something small had just zipped by close to his ear, made him jump. ‘Did you hear that?’ he asked Freddie.

  
Suddenly the air was full of tiny flickering dots of light, like candle flames separated from their candles. The air was filled with zinging zapping noises.

  
‘We need to leave, right now!’ Freddie said firmly, clutching John’s hand.

  
A cacophony of whispering voices surrounded them: give him back; we want him back; he must come back; his time is up; we need him back; surrender him to us; give him back...

  
Light flared larger in front of John’s face. He blinked, dazzled. Was there a face in the light? ‘Roger belongs to us,’ a voice said clearly. ‘He must return to us.’

  
Freddie pulled him away then, dragging him out of the clearing. Then he was running, towing John along behind him. John stumbled blindly after him. He realised that he had dropped the torch at some point.

  
*

  
They burst in to the farmhouse by the kitchen door. Roger and Brian had waited up for them and were sitting at the table with mugs of tea. Freddie flung himself at Roger, who stood and hugged Freddie to him. ‘Oh, Rog, dear, they want you!’ Freddie gabbled.

  
So Freddie had heard that too, John thought. He felt both relieved that he had not imagined it and troubled.

  
Brian laughed nervously. ‘Nice try, guys. You almost had me going there for a minute.’

  
Freddie released Roger and glared at Brian. ‘Brimi, darling, this is serious.’ He put his hands on his hips. ‘Roger, dear, what are you?’

  
*

  
Roger sat down again and ran both hands through his already messy hair. ‘You would call me a Faerie,’ he said tiredly.

  
Brian snorted again.

  
‘Oh, Brian, please just either accept or shut up!’ Freddie cried impatiently. ‘The lights and voices we saw and heard tonight, darling, were they Faeries too?’

  
Roger nodded. ‘That is what I would look like to you if you saw me in this world in my true form.’

  
‘And they want you back?’ Freddie queried.

  
Roger sighed. ‘Those of us who want to are allowed to visit this world and live here for a while. We are expected to return after a year and a day. I’ve stayed considerably longer than that.’

  
‘This is all very amusing,’ Brian said, looking very un-amused, ‘When did the three of you dream this up?’

  
‘It’s not a joke, Bri,’ Roger assured him. ‘If I go to that clearing they will take me back. This area is a stronghold for my kind. I might not be safe anywhere here.’

  
‘If you explained to them that you want to stay...’ Freddie began.

  
Roger shook his head. ‘The only way I can stay in this world is... Well, it is not going to happen.’ His face was wet with tears. ‘I am so sorry. I had hoped to be able to stay long enough to finish the album but I don’t think that will be possible. Perhaps I had better go now...’ He smiled, although tears were still pouring down his face. ‘Looking on the bright side, you can ditch ‘I’m In Love with My Car’ from the album now. I had thought it was so of this world that it might tether me here for a bit but it seems not.’ He stood, scraping his chair back. ‘Will you walk there with me?’

  
*

  
It was as if they were under a spell, John thought later. They walked in silence through the woods, following the beam of Brian’s torch. The only sound was Brian’s gasp when they reached the clearing.

  
The little lights and zipping, zapping noises were still there.

  
As they approached the voices began to whisper: Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger...

  
The lights swarmed around Roger. ‘You’ve come back, back, back, back, back to us, us, us, us, us...’

  
One light grew larger and stronger. ‘Welcome home, little one. Say goodbye to your friends.’

  
Roger looked despairingly at them. ‘Goodbye. I love you all so much.’

  
‘This is wrong!’ John yelled. ‘I won’t let you take him!’

  
The voices buzzed angrily.

  
‘Why will you not let us take him?’ the larger light asked sharply.

  
‘I love him! Roger, I love you!’ John blurted out desperately.

  
The voices made a noise somewhere between a human scream and a screech of electronic feedback.

  
John covered his ears.

  
Roger was staring at him. He looked astonished.

  
‘Prove it,’ the larger flame commanded, ‘Kiss him.’

  
‘Um...’ John had never intended to tell Roger that he loved him, convinced it would ruin everything. He had longed to kiss Roger; had dreamed of kissing Roger, but now, given the opportunity, he felt cripplingly shy.

  
Roger seized John and kissed him.

  
The voices sighed as one. ‘True love,’ they cooed.

  
‘Bugger,’ the larger light muttered as Roger released John. ‘Okay, little one, you can stay in this world for as long as the love lasts or until your lover dies, whichever comes first. We would appreciate the occasional visit, though.’

  
The light seemed to flow around Roger. Hugging him, John realised.

  
‘Thank you,’ Roger gasped. John realised he was crying again.

  
‘One condition,’ the larger light added sternly, ‘You must not use your magic to prolong his life. Feel free to use your magic for anything else, though, of course.’

  
‘Understood,’ Roger nodded. ‘I promise.’

  
‘Good.’ The larger light flared right in front of John’s face. John could definitely see a face in the flame; a face that looked like an older version of Roger. ‘I expect you to take very good care of him.’

  
John nodded. He felt too dazed to speak.

  
The voices made a sort of ringing noise, like thousands of tiny bells jangling at once, then the light and noise ceased as quickly and suddenly as they had started and the clearing was silent and dark again, apart from the beam of light from Brian’s torch. It was illuminating the torch John had dropped earlier, which he stooped to retrieve.

  
‘Well,’ Freddie said, ‘you two can certainly keep secrets!’ He sounded amused.

  
Brian was staring at Roger. ‘You come from another world?’ he croaked.

  
‘Not exactly,’ Roger said, ‘It’s not, like, a different planet. The Faerie Realm is here but also kind of not here.’ Roger shrugged. He clasped John’s hand. ‘Shall we go home and have a cup of tea and then you can ask me anything you like about it?’

  
‘Home and tea are fine,’ John agreed, ‘but then I am taking you to bed. Any questions will have to wait.’ Otherwise Brian would keep Roger up all night talking and if Roger was going to be up all night then John could think of other uses for his mouth. ‘Do you really want tea?’ he added.

  
Roger grinned. He kissed John again. ‘We could probably skip the tea,’ he agreed.

  
Brian groaned. ‘This is our life now,’ he told Freddie, ‘watching these two fawning over each other.’

  
‘Well, it is much better than losing Roger,’ Freddie pointed out. ‘Although you are rather sickening, darlings,’ he added to John and Roger.

  
‘At least we get to drop your bloody car song from the album,’ Brian noted.

  
‘What?’ Roger screeched. ‘No! No, you do not get to do that!’

  
‘You can argue about that tomorrow, too,’ John said firmly.

  
They reached the farmhouse and John dragged Roger in the direction of his bedroom. Freddie laughed. ‘Have fun, darlings! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!’

**Author's Note:**

> If you got this far then thank you for reading!
> 
> Let me know what you think?


End file.
